NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — There is growing concern as gun violence rises in some cities in Hampton Roads.
Once city has already passed its homicide totals for 2022, and it is only August.
Three cities in our area have already outpaced the number of homicides they saw this time last year—Virginia Beach, Hampton and Newport News.
The numbers alarm anti-gun violence activist Mary Brown. She said in her younger days, she ran with a rough crowd.
"I used to be a victimizer," she said.
Brown said it wasn’t until she connected with resources that she realized she had a lot going on inside that she needed to address.
"I didn’t know I had a mental health problem, I didn’t know I had an anger problem," she said. "It wasn’t that I wanted to be violent, I was just replacing what my issue was."
She said now she is seeing so many around her die from gun violence.
"One of my friends called me and two days later he was dead," Brown said. "People that I talk to every day is not on this earth anymore."
According to our data and reporting at 13News Now, homicides in some Hampton Roads cities have spiked this year compared to 2022.
Newport News has already seen 29 homicides so far this year, compared to 30 in all of last year.
Hampton has already exceeded the 24 homicides it saw all of last year, with 25 so far this year.
In August of 2022, Virginia Beach had 15 homicides. This year, the city is already up to 18.
Portsmouth has stayed level with 26 so far this year, compared to 27 this time last year.
Norfolk and Chesapeake are seeing decreases this year with 27 in Norfolk and five in Chesapeake, compared to 42 in Norfolk and 15 in Chesapeake this time last year.
Suffolk is sitting even with eight homicides.
"The violence has to stop," Brown said.
This uptick has encouraged Brown to start back up her "Stop the Violence" event in Newport News this weekend. She first hosted the event in 2015 and 2016.
She will have parents of victims share their stories and provide resources to the community.
"I just believe if I reach one, that’s one less person to go to prison or get hurt," she said.
That event is happening at the MLK Park in Newport News from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Looking at gun violence as a whole, these homicide numbers don’t include the number of people shot and injured—many of whom face a long road to recovery.